Thirteen Minutes
by Jimmy 144
Summary: Orders from the Council, "Get it cleaned up and gone." A Zombie outbreak had started at several high-end Halloween parties. Agent Coulson and his team on their way. Picking costumes. Rounding up the Zombies. A happy trick or treat.
1. Chapter 1

**Everything is changing…**

Don't own the S.H.I.E.L.D. or the characters of Marvel Comics, but happy to play in their backyard.

"The secret is out…"

-Skye, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

**Thirteen Minutes**

Chapter 1—Costumes

**In the Skies over Mid-West**

The Bus was on its way to the East Coast. They had their briefs. This mission was passed down to them from the Council. Several high-end Halloween Costume parties had gone sour when the guests began turning into zombies. Fitz and Simmons eyes widened at that thought. Ward grabbed the handle on his SIG. Skye just shrugged and thought it sounded entirely normal. As the brief went on the Council's main point was obvious, get it cleaned up and gone.

They spent just a few minutes in planning the operation. Agent Coulson was happy that everyone had a part in this. May had agreed to help. She said he needed something different and maybe a little protection from the Zombies would be good for him. Fitz and Simmons were to work on an antidote and means to deliver it. Skye's job was again a key to the operation. At the previous parties there were electronic signatures prior to the transformations. Skye was to determine their origin, identify them and break into the system. Ward was to protect her while she tried to make the break-in.

Skye replayed the video of the last party. It seemed to have the best coverage. She was still surprised at the speed of the S.H.I.E.L.D. equipment. She could go from almost any angle to the next and move up or to the sides using video feed from the guests' cell phones. It seemed as though each of the guests like taking pictures and sharing them as much as going to the party.

This particular event was a little muddied as the two main participants a husband and wife were in Zombie costumes. It took several scans to determine when they actually changed. Skye smiled, "Got you!"

Ward was standing next to her as she was reviewing the video. She promised him another session at the firing range before this mission. But she convinced him with a little backing from Agent Coulson that identifying the event timing was critical to the success of their mission. Reviewing the video was the only way to get to the bottom of this.

"So ready?"

"No I need to check what we got at the others first." She shrugged, "It should go faster, now that I know what to look for."

She began the process of going through each of the parties. She was able to identify what she decided to call the Guests of Honor, the people who were infected first, and began developing timelines. The sequence appeared to be the same. From the arrival of the Guests of Honor to the outbreak was thirteen minutes. They had thirteen minutes to get in, get it and get out.

By the time she finished, Agents Coulson and May were with Ward watching the events unfold. Skye turned to face them. "Okay, we have thirteen minutes from the time the Guests of Honor arrive to the outbreak begins." She saw the questioning look from Ward. "Now I say Guests of Honor because these people are the first ones infected and in two of the parties I know the Guest of Honor could really have been that. They were celebrities in their fields. The first two were an actress of a new hit movie and her football star escort. The next two were a CEO and his wife, a celebrated writer. From the time they got to the party to their transformation was thirteen minutes."

Agent Coulson nodded, "Good. I'll let Fitz and Simmons know."

Ward smiled, "Great, now let's hit the range."

"What, I have it?" Skye announced.

Agent Coulson looked over at Ward, "You know I am happy that she ejected the cartridge rather take the safety off." He shrugged as he walked out of the room.

Ward shook his head and started down to the in-plane firing range. The range was a special design allowing the shooter to practice at various distances from the target. The range was built with holoform projections. With the close environment the projections were easily manipulated and could be shaped into anything desired. An electromagnetic shield that stopped all bullets before they hit the out walls protected the range itself. Since the range was in an aircraft, the walls were designed to absorb the impact of the bullets too.

Ward got to the firing stand and quickly arranged the parts of the SIG P226. He smiled as Skye walked up.

She had already hacked the firing range and watched as Ward took the SIG apart. Having done this several time now. She watched the sequence once again and smiled. She pulled up the manual and read it over quickly before entering the range. "What, do you think this is a real problem?" Skye smiled back. She smoothly picked up the barrel and inserted it into the slide. She then fit the recoil spring and guide into place. Slipping the assembly onto the frame she switched the levers and inserted the magazine. She proudly held up the finished product for review.

"Okay, this time hit the target."

Suddenly instead of bare walls, the range projection before them was an old cemetery. Head stones popped up from the ground at irregular angles. The tree out to the side hung over the area providing shade in the branches of the leafless tree. A lone wolf was howling in the background.

Skye smiled at Ward, "I didn't know you had it in you."

"So pick out the dangerous targets and take them out."

Skye watched as a dark witch flew by on a broomstick. A mummy strolled down the cemetery lane. And a little girl walked along holding several books while looking a pager. Skye took two shots. The first blew to books away and the second went through the pager into the holographic girl who disappeared.

"What, someone just passing through, another going to visit a friend but the girl? And a pager? Come-on?"

Ward shook his head and marched out of the firing range.

May called over the Bus, "Ten minutes till we land. So has anyone picked out our costumes?"

_A/N Hey, thought a little Halloween treat was in order. Hope you enjoy. Come join us and post some stories. Treats and reviews appreciated. _


	2. Chapter 2

**Everything is changing…**

Don't own the S.H.I.E.L.D. or the characters of Marvel Comics, but happy to play in their backyard.

"The secret is out…"

-Skye, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

**Thirteen Minutes**

Chapter 2—Zombies

**Baltimore Airport, MD**

The Bus was parked at a hanger on the North side of the terminal. Everything looked in place and normal around the aircraft. Yes, there were sentries but it seemed normal and routine.

Inside the Bus was an entirely different story. May's question, 'So has anyone picked out our costumes?' had driven a new dynamic in the team. They were crowded around the screen in the conference room. They had one down and five to go. Fitz would go as Chekov from the new Star Trek productions. He agreed to learn how to change his accent. Skye thought it would be fairly easy and most people would not notice the difference anyhow. There was a move after that to have Ward go as Spock or even Khan, but that got put down. Ward was particularly happy.

By then, the unspoken agreement was that no one would offer what they wanted to be. Someone else would have to pick it. And then by agreement of the team members, followed by consent of the person donning the costume, the decision would become final. The discussion centered on Skye for a while. It ranged from Wonderwoman to Ryan Stone in an Astronaut's suit. Nothing seemed to fit.

Simmons was wondering out loud, "So what about May as a Ninja?"

Agent Coulson winced.

Skye offered, "No, it would be better for her to be Catwoman. That would seem to fit her better." She had hoped that no one would pick Catwoman for her. She felt she already did that, had the tee shirt, and an erased identity.

Everyone clapped their approval. May nodded gracefully with her approval.

Agent Coulson moved next to Skye and said softly, "Nice."

Fitz then asked, "So what about Ward and Skye? A beauty and the beast combination?"

Simmons laughed, "More like Gaston."

"Alright, we agreed to be nice." May broke in.

"Okay, how about Pirates of the Caribbean, Captain Jack Sparrow and Angelica always fighting back." Fitz came back. There were nods across the team.

"I like that, seems to fit." Skye remembered back to the film and the constant fighting between Sparrow and Angelica. "I liked the ending." She waited for Ward to nod his agreement. Next she pointed at Simmons, "We still need something like… I know Belle and her father." She looked at her AC, "It would mean you could cart around a tool box, in this case, with our tools."

Agent Coulson's eyebrow went up in recognition of the of the advantage that would provide, "Fine here. Simmons you okay with that?"

She smiled brightly, "I've always wanted to be Belle. Certainly."

Skye hit return on her laptop and turned around to the Team, "Okay, well thanks to Uncle Fury, the outfits will be waiting for us at the hotel rooms." She got out of her chair, "Lets saddle up."

Everyone shook their head.

"What? That's what they say isn't it."

**Ritz-Carlton, Washington D.C.**

Skye was in the room with Fitz. Simmons was there too. Skye wondered about that, _'Is Simmons into Fitz? It is obvious that the two are connected. But Simmons is watching over Fitz like a hawk, making sure I don't do anything. Wonder if she heard about the glasses?' _Skye realized Fitz was asking about his speech. "Oh come on, your records show you studied Russian in grad school. Certainly, you must have tried to speak it. It's not like Latin or something."

Fitz just looked at her, like maybe she was speaking Latin.

Skye shook her head, "Okay let's do four of the more common characteristics. Start with an R and roll it. Next make INs sound like two EEs. Change any Ws into Vs. And finally cut out as many articles and prepositions as possible. So let's see, 'I'm going to party to have fun with the woman I love,' becomes, 'I go to parrrty with voman I love.'" Skye watched as Fitz's eyes went wide in amazement.

Simmons smiled. She knew Fitz was not going to the party with Skye. He was going to tag along with Coulson and her. He was blushing because of that. She smiled at Skye and saw her nod back. Simmons was confident enough to continue the smile and say, "I'll take it from here. We need to leave in just a little. You better go change."

Skye was happy as she walked out of the room. Her new mission was beginning.

Skye exited her room at the same time as the others entered the hallway. Her outfit matched Angelica's outfit exactly. It was the outfit worn on the ship. It started with a black hat with a wide brim rolled at the edges. There was a large webbed leather band around the hat with a braided buckle in the front. A brown plume feather topped the hat on the right side. Her hair was combed almost straight. She was wearing darker mascara and eyebrow liner.

Ward was obviously admiring the rest. Skye had a white smocked blouse that certainly highlighted as Fitz put it 'her endowment'. The tight black leather vest helped immensely. She wore black tights that slipped into high leather black boots. She had a dark jacket that flared at the hips. Her accouterments included a shoulder belt with attached cutlass and waist belt with a Queen Anne pistol.

Coulson could not help himself, "Could I see?"

Skye smiled shyly. It was the hardest part of the outfit to acquire. Uncle Fury was going to pay a pretty price, but after this she began to wonder whether her AC might just buy it. She swiftly pulled out the pistol and handed it to Agent Coulson butt first.

Coulson took it with admiration. "An original?"

"As far as I know. It is on the list to be acquired by the Smithsonian. They apparently will go through the formal authentication process before purchase."

While he continued to admire the weapon, Skye was happy with the choice for her AC. He had a bushy white mustache and white bushy hair around the sides of his head. His outfit was simple with a brown cape that topped it off. His cart looked like a cross between a hot dog vendor's and some old wooden carpenter's cart.

She looked over at Simmons. When she first though of the outfit, she thought the Belle villager outfit would best fit with Maurice, but then after the sparkle in Simmons eye after saying that she always wanted to be Belle, she knew it had to be the full ballroom gown. And with the hair done in the appropriate topknot it flowed perfectly down the side of her face. Skye was happy and could tell that Simmons was too.

When Coulson gave her back the pistol, she looked over the Fitz. He matched Chekov perfectly. He was in the traditional gold shit with a Star Fleet emblem on the front. He also carried a weapon. Skye pointed, "And that is?"

"Oh, well. I thought I better bring along a phaser. In this case it is tuned to be more of an EMP blaster. If we reach the count down and still don't know what we are disarming, I'll shoot this around the room."

Skye and the others nodded in agreement.

Skye was truly impressed with May's outfit. She had been right. The S.H.I.E.L.D. weapons and methods department had been the right choice. May was in a molded black Kevlar fighting outfit. It was equipped with a weapons belt. May had her hair combed straight with black cat ears ornaments attached to the black eye mask. With bold red lipstick, she was perfect.

Last and an impressive transition, Ward was the perfect Captain Jack Sparrow. The leather captain's hat covered a red bandana. In-turn that covered the dreadlocks that now covered his head. He was sporting a beard that would rival the captain's with rolled and braided locks that were pointed from each side of his chin. Wearing a loose white shirt with black vest, he had two pistols and a cutlass like Skye's.

Coulson got them going, "Well, party goers, let's go stop those Zombies."

_A/N Hey, really hope you enjoyed the selection of outfits. Come join us and post some stories. Treats and reviews appreciated. _

_I guess this one goes before Episode1.5. Some interesting developments there._


	3. Chapter 3

**Everything is changing…**

Don't own the S.H.I.E.L.D. or the characters of Marvel Comics, but happy to play in their backyard.

"The secret is out…"

-Skye, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

**Thirteen Minutes**

Chapter 3—Party

**Undisclosed Party Location**

So as to be not too obvious the team arrived in separate vehicles. Skye and Ward went together in a new Mercedes C300. And Coulson and Simmons arrived in a large van, so that Coulson could transport the cart. Fitz showed in his Tesla Roadster Sport. May arrived on a new Harley-Davidson Softail. A valet took the keys as the partiers emerged from their vehicles.

The party began in the penthouse of one of the buildings over looking the Lincoln memorial. When the team began to enter the party, there were at least eighty people there. The first part of this mission was to get video of the partygoers' faces. The video would then be the run through Simmons' face recognition software. She had adapted the software to account for the costumes, make-up and masks. Each of the team began milling around the party.

The next target for observation was any article like a candle stand, bowl, picture or box that looked out of place. Fitz would use his Star Trek communicator to scan each one of the suspect items.

Skye began a clockwise tour of the room while Ward began the opposite direction. They kept eyeing each other for any signals of untoward problems. Coulson and May did the same thing. Simmons was stationed by the cart to monitor feeds and check for results. The feed and recognition software was working fine. Simmons noted to Coulson that most of the people they were passing were very prominent in the Washington party scene.

Ward heard the exchange and spoke over the net, "So, who are we looking for?"

Skye smiled at the challenge. She considered it an easy one. She went over to a couple dressed in colonial soldier's uniforms that was obviously looking around to make sure everything was in order and still watching the entrance. "Hey, great party."

"Thank you, ah…"

"Skye," she held up her pass. "Friend brought me."

They nodded.

"Are we waiting on someone?" Skye knew she had to press to get the answer.

"What?"

"Well, I mean, you guys seem to be looking at the front door. Someone late?"

The lady responded, "Oh yes, we asked Justin Carson and Eli to join us tonight. They should be here any minute."

Skye nodded. The hosts moved on and Skye went to the next guests. Then stepping far enough away she asked, "Did you guys get that? Carson is not only super rich; he is a rival of Ian Quin. And Eli is fabulous, probably as rich with her films and songs."

Ward quipped back, "You're not turning into a groupie? Are you?"

"What no, but I bet you've never even watched one of her movies or listened to one of her songs. Have you?"

May broke in, "Okay children, break it up and focus."

"Right, we still need to find the mechanism that activates the virus," Skye came back. She knew she had won that round and was looking for more.

Skye and Ward finally made their half loop and met with each other at the buffet table. Skye went to get something to eat and then hesitated.

Ward noticed her drawing her hand back, "What?"

"This is so obvious, but I've been to enough parties to know that bad things can be in the food or the punch." She looked at him and saw no recognition of what she was saying. _'Okay, mental note, this guy needs a little more party time. No wonder he's so…' _She looked over the party and spotted Coulson with the cart and Simmons next to him. Grabbing some of the goodies and filling her pirate flask with some punch, she said, "Come on, we need to have Simmons test this."

The shortest route was across the ballroom floor. Of course the band, dressed in uniforms rivaling their host, was playing a formal colonial waltz and several people were now dancing.

Ward's face did not smiled at this as he thought it was just another juvenile approach by Skye. But he held out his hand. It started with a small stumble and Skye chuckled. Ward recovered and swung her gracefully around the floor and over to where Coulson and Simmons were standing. When done she looked at him. Skye was impressed.

"Got something?" Simmons asked.

Skye opened the napkin and held out the flask, "Can you test this? Could there be something like a time release capsule that sends out," she shrugged, "a DNA change virus?"

Simmons knew that Skye was shooting in the dark, another urban fable, but she would check. She opened the side of the toolbox and got in position so that no one could see. In this case, her costume was very effective. The folds of her dress covered the view of the cart. She began with the punch. The analysis was simple. There was nothing out of the ordinary. The punch was spiked with Bourbon.

Simmons called out, "The punch is okay. It is spiked if you care to have any." She went on to the food items. The analysis of the first item, candy corn, showed nothing.

Just then Fitz called out, "There is a timer in the pumpkin on the corner of the food table."

Ward acknowledged, "Stand away from it. I will be there in a second."

May observed, "Someone is moving over to the pumpkin. Dressed in a chefs outfit."

Ward came back, "I see him."

The man pulled the lid off the pumpkin, "There you are. You know I need you for the soufflé. Why do you hide from me?" He grabbed the timer and walked back to the kitchen.

Ward shook his head in disbelief, "False alarm. That was a kitchen timer."

It was time for Coulson to bring the team back, "Okay, people keep focused."

Ward went to the front door to check-in with the guards.

Skye began working the floor. She was going to try to get a good facial picture on all of the new people. There were more partygoers coming to the party as the evening progress. The total in the room was now over one hundred. Skye would go up and make a small talk or as necessary blatantly stand in front of the person. It allowed the facial camera to get a good feed to Simmons.

While Simmons was working on the mystery food, the facial recognition software continued to make its comparisons. None had tripped any alarms.

May and Coulson began milling around, in hopes they might just see something the others had not.

Skye went over to meet two of the new comers that were too close to the pictures of the Zombies from the last party. Skye went up to them, "Good evening me maties. Where's Davy?"

They just looked at her and growled.

She put her hand on her cutlass thinking that a little more emphasis was need. "Are you going to tick or treat tonight?"

One of them reached out to move her aside and as he pushed her some of his putrefied skin fell to the floor.

Skye activated the net and went for her pistol at the same time, "Okay boys, head over to the corner. Now!" She had her pistol out and it was loaded. Ward had assured her that the ball from the pistol to the head of a Zombie would drop it in its tracks. She was happy that they were moving back slowly.

Ward made his way over to Skye in just seconds. He had his pistols out too.

"If you have them, I need Simmons to take a look at this." Skye pointed to the flesh still on her sleeve. She was extremely worried that she was next. _'Hello, Zombie land.'_

The crowd around the scene moved back and Skye almost ran over to Simmons. When she got there she just pointed. She was starting to hyperventilate.

Simmons cut the fabric away from Skye's blouse, scraped off the tissue on to a dish and put it into her analyzer. It did not take too long. The readout displayed on the screen. Simmons called out, "This is an active virus. Keep them isolated."

Ward came back, "Got them at the corner."

Coulson pronounced, "We have a quarantine crew coming up to the party floor. The Zombies will be taken to the next floor down for further analysis.

"Skye log into the video system in the hotel and find out where they came from. This certainly is not what we were led to expect. Be prepared for some another release with or without the guests of honor."

May started working the crowd and got the partygoers to go to the other side of the room. As the quarantine crew came, they took over the crowd control.

Coulson told them to take the door guards to a separate area as a precaution.

Skye looked over at Coulson, "What about me?" She hadn't felt anything, but the fear was beginning to rise.

"If you haven't had any effects by now, you should be safe." Simmons reported. "The virus is only twenty-five percent effective according to the previous analysis."

Coulson knew to keep her busy at her job and said, "Keep checking the video."

Skye called out the next second, "Got it. They came from the second floor, room 205. The room and hallways look empty."

Coulson made the arrangements, "Okay, a containment crew is on their way to the second floor."

Skye went on, "Video shows a normal couple going into the room about two hours ago. Shipping the faces over to Simmons. They emerged from the room just before coming to the party. They were already Zombies."

"Ward and Fitz go down to that room and check it. Look for the activation mechanism." Coulson moved over to see what Skye was looking at. While pointing at the faces from earlier, Coulson called out, "Simmons, do you have anything on those faces?"

"No matches," Simmons replied.

"Is that even possible?" Skye asked thinking that was a bit creepy.

Simmons shook her head, "No. Those faces, well, they must be made or something."

Skye was pointing at the screen, "I thought you said this would get through the masks and costumes, wouldn't a newly created face be identified through the same thing."

That took Simmons off guard, "It should." She made a few adjustments, "But look, the eyes are different. In both of them. See the iris does not match. Even the cheekbones are off. They are way off from being symmetrical. Someone purposefully did surgery on them to change their faces."

Skye caught on, "So they would not be identified by any facial recognition software. Wait, won't the software identify at least the eye based on the iris? And why do the surgery if you were going to use the normal, whatever that is, way to infect the party?"

Simmons continued to work the facial software to see if there was anyway to match the Zombies. She got her answer and started to shudder, "Okay, way over the possible. How gross? The eyes are identified as coming from people that are deceased."

Fitz and Ward called over the net, "This is Ward, we discovered a shot kit in the back of the refrigerator."

Fitz continued, "They injected the virus into themselves."

"Give it to the quarantine crew and get back up here. We still need to find the other activation source." Coulson ordered.

May came over to the group now standing around the cart. Skye was still checking the video feeds.

Skye finally got done, "Nothing else here boss. Say can I run this through the spectrometer or whatever you're using?" She held up the last napkin of food.

"Sure, put it on the dish there and push it in there," Simmons pointed while still typing.

That's when the guests of honor, Justin Carson and Eli, came to the door.

Skye and Simmons heard the alert at the same time. The virus was identified in the last food sample. Skye called out, "It's the food."

Coulson called out to the quarantine crew, "Get them out and hold for questioning."

May had her SIG P226s out and waved to Ward to follow, "We'll get the kitchen crew and that chef."

Simmons checked the analysis of the food. She nudged Skye, "Hey you were right. The alarm did go off because the analyzer had gotten through the outer layer of the…well pills in the food, small ones that held the virus. There is a small nanobot that releases it." She called over to Fitz, "Go find that timer you saw earlier. It probably puts out some kind of signal."

In a few minutes Fitz came out of the kitchen holding the timer. "You're right. It will send out a low frequency wave. Probably get through anything to activate the nanobots."

Skye turned to Coulson, "Okay score one for the home team. But why the other two Zombies?"

Coulson knew. He had seen it so many times before. A cleanup crew would be dispatched to erase any pointers to the people behind the attack, "Cleanup crew as a part of the last attack. They were here for the Chef."

Skye still wanted to know more about how this would be handled, "So, how do we find out who was behind this?"

Coulson gave one of his dry smiles and pointed to the napkin, "Let them eat cake, or in this case the soufflé."

_A/N Hey, really hope you enjoyed. Have a Happy and Safe Halloween. Treats and reviews appreciated. _


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